The development community cannot effectively design and implement programs for youth without youth at the table. Here are a few approaches to doing just that.

As global development professionals, we need to recognize that today’s world leaders don’t fit the narrow definitions of previous generations. We typically think of leaders as those with long-established power, while we ignore influential, often young, individuals like small-scale farmers and healthcare workers, community organizers and policy advocates. Today, integrating youth engagement in program design and implementation is critical to sustaining development impact over time. Youth-driven interventions focus on the individuals who will shape future policy, enact positive change in their communities, and drive innovation.

Global development practitioners must ensure that our programs are driven from the bottom up — by listening to young people and involving them in the process of developing solutions and advocating for their rights and needs. Simply put: we cannot effectively design and implement programs for youth without youth at the table. Here are a few approaches to doing just that.